KitCars International

Europa Integration

The mid engined lotus Europa was a sensation in 1966 since when it's become an all time classic. Richard Winter's Banks Europas offer salvation to neglected originals whilst endowing them with the power the Renault engine could never provide but for which their chassis cried out.

The dark green car wears a Lotus badge, the yellow one doesn't. Both have Vauxhall DOHC 16 valve motors driving Renault Fuego NG3 transaxles and both were built in Banks, Southport. Can they be genuine Lotus Europas or are they replicas? The answer is tricky and not because Richard Winter wishes to defend his work via some wordy, descriptive subterfuge: more that nobody is quite sure of what label to put on them.

If you want a Europa. there are any number available to choose from. Costs will vary widely according to condition as poorly maintained cars will almost certainly suffer from a multitude of ills (chiefly chassis) making the only sure way to tip top condition a complete rebuild.

The starting point for a Banks Europa is just such an original car in need of skilled attention. From there you have three choices. You can rebuild it to original Europa spec, you can uprate it to a Banks 47 or you can go the whole hog with their tribute to the 62.

The green car has a Banks replacement spaceframe chassis, modified suspension and the Vauxhall 16 valve motor covered with a largely original body, interior fittings and trim. The yellow car has a similar mechanical spec save for carburetors instead of injection but the only original body panels are the doors. It comes down to at what stage it ceases to have any links with an original car. It's an argument to see purists through a good few pints but it looks like a Europa, the Banks cars are a hell of a lot faster than a Europa, their handling and roadholding is improved to give stiff competition to any ultra modern mid engined set up and if it captures your heart, you couldn't really care what the hell it is.

Richard Winter loves Lotuses. His company has long been engaged in the repair, care, maintenance and restoration of any and every Lotus model gaining an enviable and widespread reputation for good work, sound, knowledgeable advice and enthusiastic service. Things changed when a Europa chassis fitted with a 47 body came his way. It was in a pretty dreadful state and was thus bought for a knockdown price. Armed with the car's numerical identity, Richard's research identified it as an ex-factory car and as such, quite significant. Thus it was the subject of a thorough rebuild during the course of which the decision to produce a 47 replica was taken. So using the knowledge, experience and expertise the company had gained, a mould was duly created. Naturally, Europa restorers and owners fancied the 47 body and from there, the project took off. With the availability of the Vauxhall DOHC 16 valve engine which boasted direct lineage from the LV220 engine of the Lotus 62, and a bit of GRP work, it was a fairly short hop to the 62 and the last five of six years have been very busy as a result.

The concept was Colin Chapman's, the design by Ian Jones and the styling by John Frayling who also gave us the Clan Crusader and Lola T70. Collectively, their talents produced a car that looked sensational when it first appeared but which has also stood the test of time. While the stock Europa retains its delicate, slightly fragile look, the beefier Banks Europas look low, solid and grippy. They need to be with around 180 bhp of Vauxhall 16 valve power available for the chase, hence the revised chassis.

The Banks spaceframe chassis retains the backbone design of the original stressed steel unit but tests have revealed the tubular replacement to be hugely stiffer. The front suspension is pretty much identical using a Triumph Herald stub axle, fabricated wishbones on Silentblock bushes, an inclined coilspring damper unit and an anti roll bar. The big changes are at the back. Gone are the Europa's heavy box section swing arms that used the fixed length driveshafts as the upper lateral links The Banks cars employ a nylon bushed double wishbone set up with a fabricated steel upright. The wishbones are extremely wide but their contribution to high speed stability on the straight and in the turns more than justifies the company's deviation from the original specification. The other interesting aspect of the rear suspension is what the company refers to as a clevis joint. This little number is a replacement for a rose joint and although it has a similar initial cost, replacements are only a few quid each The joint comprises a threaded shaft with a square drilled head. It is screwed in and out to give adjustment and when set, the main joint is bolted to it. This piece comprises a simple steel channel with a piece of tube welded to it. The channel provides the lugs to bolt to the head of the threaded shank while the tube accepts a Triumph trunnion bush and mounts to the damper or some alternative suspension component. Very clever and it offers extremely positive, adjustable location.

In the engine bay both cars accommodate Vauxhall DOHC 16 valve units although Richard hesitates to refer to it as a standard installation as they are becoming harder and more expensive to locate. He is currently experimenting with its Ecotech replacement but has so far found it harder to uprate without a greater degree of specialized internal work. The engine drives through Renault's NG3 Fuego box which is available with a range of gear sets and differential ratios to suit any given application and though both cars present on the day used identical gear sets, their very different road personas demonstrated the wide gulf created by a few tweaks here and there.

The yellow car is for a Japanese customer and has been built to his specification and set up to his personal preference. You know he's Japanese as soon as you slip behind the wheel as there's very little leg or headroom. Banks can move the car's rear bulkhead which, in this case, they have done while the seats also offer a high degree of flexibility. Banks make replacement seats which are created in 18 gauge steel sheet and which form part of the car's side impact protection.

But the driving position could only be a Europa. A very laid back attitude, lavish trim and polished wood fascia with everything a mere finger twitch away. On the move the Vauxhall engine makes stirring noises behind your head. The twin 48s suck hard and the tubular exhaust reacts with a stirring rasp as the power sets the car leaping forward on a smooth surge of seemingly inexhaustible power. On the way up, the polished wood tip of the stumpy stick has a less than positive feel that is mirrored in the car's stance on the road. The ride is soft, far softer than expected, while the result of much reduced castor at the front is a real twitchiness in the tail at only moderately high speeds. Twitchiness is something you can keep on top of if the communication systems are sufficiently well tuned but the general soft feel set up a haze of static to mask the signals. As something pretty on wheels, I thoroughly enjoyed it but it wouldn't be my choice for a spirited thrash.

For that I would choose the dark green car. For a start it had a good deal more cabin space allowing me to slither down the seat and assume that almost supine driving position in which I felt far more comfortable. The injected engine had another 25 bhp to play with but the car felt firmer and far more solid with far more precise gear change and general agility.

Off the line, those wide rear wishbones exert their anti squat characteristics to reduce wheelspin to a minimum after which the motor hurls you up the road. Five precise, speedy and well spaced clicks later you can be doing whatever speed you like Courtesy of 270 bhp per ton.

But straight line speed is not the car's greatest asset; that rests with its superlative roadholding, pin sharp response, taut feel. perfect balance, enormous grip and all round handling finesse. In short. like the Europa. it's a true driver's car that has been dramatically improved by the ministrations of Banks Service Station.

Building speed you are immediately impressed by the solid feel of the nylon bushed front end and the huge feel in the steering with its much greater castor. You also feel the superlative grip of the skinnier 185/60 tyres. These are Hankook Korean tyres which Richard swears are among the tyre world's best kept secrets. Hugely grippy in the dry, poised and confidence inspiring in the wet and very much cheaper than equally competent Yokos, Goodyears or Michelins. Try them. The rear end too benefits from the set up at the front with none of the twitchy nervousness evident in the yellow example. This one sits squarely on the deck, tracks true and transmits its sure footed grip through the chassis. Push her into a bend at any speed and you know exactly what the car's doing, the signals coming thick and fast from all corners. It really is pin sharp with superb control response, oodles of power and excellent responsive brakes.

This is the car that carries the Lotus badge, original S2 body and interior trim and as you sit there, stroking it through the turns, straightening the Esses, braking, changing gear and blasting past far more modern machinery you can reflect that there are precious few thirty year old cars that can still hack it like this.

Despite living in the shadow of the Elan, the Europa has certainly achieved classic status. Whether such status precludes the improvements on offer at Banks is a question which doesn't really interest me. All I know is that the Banks Europas in all their various guises are terrific cars which pay outstanding homage to their inspiration.

Europa History

With the Lotus 7 starting to show its age, the mid engined Lotus Europa or 46 was built to capitalize on the outstanding success of the Lotus race cars. It made its dramatic debut in 1966 and while unanimously praised for its handling, roadholding and economy achieved with a cd figure of just 0.29, its Renault engine was never going to set the race tracks alight. In standard form the 1470 cc motor from Renault's 16 model developed a mere 63 bhp but Lotus tweaked it with high compression pistons, a higher lift camshaft and a Solex twin choke carburetor to boost power output to 82 bhp @ 6000 rpm but it stir wasn't enough. Additionally, non opening windows, pressurized ventilation system. poor rear visibility and a very heavy clutch failed to persuade customers to abandon their Elans.

As a road car; the Europa improved immeasurably with the S2 launched in 1969. While the S1 cars had been almost exclusively for export, hence the name, the S2 was freely available on the home market either factory built or in complete kit form. The Renault engine was beefed up, electric windows were added along with a host of improvements including a detachable body, (the S1 bodies were bonded to the chassis making remedial work awkward and expensive). The choice of the fairly mundane Renault engine has been variously explained by the suitability of its rear mounted engine ancillaries, its convenient transaxle as well as the fact that a high performance Gordini version could well have been on the cards. However, the powerhouse Europa arrived in the form of the Lotus Ford twin cam in 1971. This used the 1558 cc engine first seen in the Elan. It was followed by the big valve version in 1972.

But back to setting the tracks alight. The Renault engine was never going to do it but the chassis was capable of accepting a great deal more power so the result of a rethink was the Lotus 47 which appeared in 1967 several years ahead of the twin cam road car. Aimed at the FIA Group 4 category which demanded a total of 50 cars to be laid down, it seems that despite the company's expertise at figure fudging, Lotus did build the requisite number of cars. The chassis was retained along with the front suspension but the Europa's rear suspension was replaced with alloy uprights from the 59 single seater, upper links, reversed bottom wishbones and long upper and lower radius arms. There was also an anti roll bar. The engine was the Lotus Cosworth 1594 cc, fuel injected twin cam driving through a Hewland FT 200 five speed box. Power output was 165 bhp @ 7000 rpm. Although very competitive, early cars suffered chassis flex and poor braking thus the 47A appeared to remedy these shortcomings. That said, they were not the most successful Lotuses as they could never really compete with the 2 litre cars.

The Lotus 62 was a completely different animal built as a test bed for the Lotus Vauxhall 220 engine. This was an iron block slant four unit using an experimental Lotus 16 valve head to produce 220 bhp @ 8000 rpm. Beneath the pumped up and scooped Europa body was a spaceframe chassis and Formula 1 suspension including massive rear tyres. Only two cars were made. Both the 47 and the 62 won their first races and, despite the shortest of careers, are much sought after historic cars.

Money in the Banks

The Banks Europa is one of those cars that is very difficult to produce in kit form but if you really want to give it a go, you need to sit down and talk seriously to Banks' Richard Winter. The first thing you need is a Europa as a great many of the parts come from the original car. Although you don't see many about, they made 9320 Europas in total, of which, due to their GRP bodies, many have survived with badly rusted chassis. Richard has a yardful of them and says the Series 2 is the best one to go for due to the detachable body. Prices range between £500 and £1500, the more you spend being offset by less remedial work. Richard cannot recall the last time he sold a chassis on its own; most customers take time to discuss their requirements, Richard does the running about and gives them a price which most accept. Richard quotes complete car prices from £24000 + vat but the job can be done a great deal cheaper. It merely depends on what you want to end up with. When we last reviewed the car in 1993, chassis prices were given as £1745 + vat. They will be more now but every single part is individually priced so get a pen and a calculator.